


Pet Peeve

by closet_monster



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Demigods (Percy Jackson), Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Police, Bottom Percy Jackson, Enemies to Lovers, I Don't Even Know, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Police Brutality, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Smut, Top Jason Grace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:22:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23344672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/closet_monster/pseuds/closet_monster
Summary: Percy never gave too much thought to the consequence of his actions - that's how he gets himself spanked and arrested in a protest.And detective Grace doesn't know what he did wrong: he can't stand Jackson, but the motherfucker keeps coming back to him like a curse.
Relationships: Jason Grace/Percy Jackson
Comments: 12
Kudos: 187





	Pet Peeve

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!!!! First of all, I got this idea because of Jane Fonda and also Brooklyn 99. Yes, I know, it's a mess.  
> So basically. Percy is arrested in a protest and pisses Jason out of his mind on the precinct. They keep being pulled together.  
> It's very long and might be exhaustive, I know, but I didn't want to divide it in different chapters. I also got carried away with it and wrote a little more into the story and the side characters.  
> I hope you're all taking care of yourselves. Stay home! Don't fall into this "only the elderly are dying" bullshit. People of all ages are evolving to aggravated conditions and perishing. So keep cleaning your house and your objects, stay home, don't forget to shower at least twice a day, wash your hands continuously and try to eat more fruits and vegetables. It keeps your immunity up!  
> Take care everyone! Hope this little thing helps ease your mind a little!

Jason has to be a saint, they all think. Well, _that_ , or he's simply insane.

  
  


The story that follows unravels itself in consequence of these seven facts:

One - Jason gets to the precinct early in the morning, keeping in mind the unholy number or reports and paperwork he needs to get done during his morning shift. He knows this isn't going to be a nice day, but it's ok: it's not his first and certainly won't be the last time in desk duty.

Two - it's 9am. His desk is fucking zoned because a block of drywall fell from the ceiling straight into his head. Jason says that he's fine and can keep on working, but the captain, Reyna, says that he either goes to the ER willingly or will be forcefully removed from the precinct.

Three - he drives into the main avenue, because it's the most practical way to get anywhere, especially the hospital. It ends up being the wrong choice: hundreds, if not thousands, occupy the streets in an illegal protest in favor of, _what?_ Climate change? The oceans? Forest fires?

Jason knows that it's illegal because anything that organizes a large body of civilians on the streets requires a permit from the police, and if the police knew of a fucking protest in the main avenue, he wouldn't have gotten himself trapped there in the first place.

Four - Jason decides that he hates the earth and that he wants it to either burn into ashes or to be washed over by melted icebergs. _"I hope you choke on a straw"_ is what he thinks when a protester stands in front of his car, holding a sign that reads "PROTECT THE OCEANS". Jason doesn't really hate the sea (or turtles), but he would be lying if he said that he didn't feel like running over the man.

Five - he was fine. The doctor sent him back to work and this time around, he drives through an intricate road that gets nowhere near the avenue. Jason knows that by now, the police has definitely stopped the protest and has started to arrest a good number of people.

Six - his co-workers relocated him across the room. His table has been partially cleaned and placed far away from the fallen drywall, which means he's sitting close to the cells. It's not an issue: it has never been.

Seven - Jason watches, amazed, as officer Zhang carries the guy who held the "PROTECT THE OCEANS" sign into one of the cells, barely conscious.

His spirits are renovated.

Missing the entirety of his morning shift and making up for it during lunch didn't even bother him. Every time Jason as much as lifted his eyes, he had a privileged view from the _ocean protector_ lying down on the dirty floor like a rag doll - and his inner goblin thrived every single time.

But it only lasted so long.

" _Shit!_ What station is this?"

"Station 14, Brooklyn. You'll get to make a call when we're done filling your record." Piper beat him to it, drowning on her own stacks of paper. "But it will take a _while..._ "

Their precinct had arrested about seventeen protesters, ages ranging from 20 to 45. The ocean protector was 28: or that's what the ID on his confiscated wallet said. His name was Perseus Jackson and from what they had found on the record, that wasn't Mr Jackson's first arrest in a protest. Actually, there were about fifteen, along with an impressive number of judicial actions being moved against him for damage of both public and private property, moral damages and public slander. And on top of that, the system said there was a classified case involving his name.

Perseus Jackson was a marine biologist who had managed to offend about a dozen politicians, three different universities, over forty companies and major industries and a… A 7 year old boy he once called a "little asshole" in a McDonald's drive thru.

The mother was filthy rich.

"Hey, huh… Did you guys arrest any gingers?" Through his peripheral vision, Jason can see the man getting up to stand by the bars, but he elects to ignore him. "Like, wearing a fluorescent handmade jellyfish costume? And also, a goatee using two crutches to walk."

Piper and Jason trade a _look_ and when they see officer Zhang leaving the room, they both know he's off to get a toxicological exam for the ocean protector.

"I don't remember a ginger jellyfish with a goatee running away with crutches, no." Piper squints at him, clearly annoyed.

"No, there's two of them. Ginger jellyfish and ginger goat..."

"I don't think we arrested any gingers today, Mr Jackson." Jason interrupts him, starting to feel just as annoyed as his co-workers were. "Now sit down and wait."

Perseus Jackson didn't sit down and he sure as hell didn't wait.

"Well, since we're all here and I'm not going anywhere, how do you guys feel about having a little speech?" Jason is about to tell him to shut up, but the man is faster than him And much more obstinate. "Did you guys know that over 10 million tons of trash is dispersed into the ocean every year? Also, only about 3 percent of the water in the world is the sweet, drinking water we know. It's very little water and we're going to run out of it soon. It means that we'll need to process the ocean's…"

"Mr. Jackson, you can shut up now." Jason tries to interrupt him, but it's to no avail.

"But right now, that water is as good as a dumpster and it's only going to get worse! How come not a single person in here is freaking out about the fact that self-destruction is eminent? If you don't care about the actual ocean, the marine life, can't you at least think about how we're damaging the earth _and_ ourselves permanently?"

"Yes, we're all worried out of our minds. The oceans. _So sad_ ." Jason looks to the man at the bars, feeling as if he was minutes away from losing his ability to _reason_. 

The motherfucker was gorgeous. I mean, sure: his arms were skinned raw and judging by the redness on his white shirt, his torso was just as bad. His lower lip was split, there was was blood on his face and his left cheekbone was swelling in a purple, angry bruise - Frank Zhang was a big man with big hands. But putting that aside, Jackson looked like he could be a Hollywood actor. Not necessarily a good one, but those they always hire to drag their huge fanbase of thirsty people to the theaters.

He was sunkissed - and embraced and fucked. With dark raven hair and eyes so green they didn't even seem real.

"Ok, let's try a different approach. What do you guys know about billionaires?"

"I don't want to know shit about billionaires, Jackson, now shut the fuck up."

But he didn't.

One hour ago, Jason felt stellar, but right now, he has a growing headache that threatens to ruin the rest of his day - but it's not just the headache. No, it's not the headache. It's Perseus Jackson. He's the problem. He's the horseman of evil who lead every single thing wrong into the world.

Jason wants to strangle the biologist - and by law, he could. But the only circumstance that allows that to happen is if Jackson proves himself so be dangerous to others and himself. Then, Jason would be allowed to march inside the cell to restrain Jackson however he deemed fit, which might include a list of very cruel things (and the law has never, ever, punished any officers for getting a little rough with inmates).

But so far, all Jackson does is talk. Or better: rant.

Jason can't be too sure without checking on the internet, but he's almost sure that they're also allowed to restrain inmates for being hysterical - and judging by everyone else's faces, he might not even be the first to propose it.

"And I'm not saying that we should guillotine Jeff Bezos, but doesn't it piss you off that he could solve world hunger in ten minutes of phone calls? And he would still have at least 90% of his liquid patrimony! It's 114 billions! Two centuries of his leeching bloodline won't be enough to burn through 5 billion dollars, however lavish they live."

For one, Jason didn't know that Jeff Bezos had 114 billion dollars - which didn't even seem like a real number. And secondly, he thinks that the ocean protector had a fair point; but upon realizing the later, Jason almost slaps himself on the face.

"Jackson, if you don't stop talking immediately, you _will_ be restrained _and_ gagged and things will get a lot more complicated than what they have to be." Jason warns him, seeing as officer Zhang comes back to the room with the small drug test in hands.

"Mr. Jackson, I need to collect your saliva for a toxicological exam. Open your mouth, please."

For such a big scary guy, Zhang was also the sweetest person on earth. Like, sure - he might have beat up Jackson's ass and dragged his limp body on the burning asphalt and into the police car, but Jason could have sworn he saw Frank handling Jackson like he was made of porcelain.

It was a lot more than what he deserved, anyway.

"Here's how the test goes: if the tip goes blue, it's an indicator that you have something illicit on your organism." Frank murmurs, taking the collector off Jackson's mouth.

Jason watches patently for the change of color, but it doesn't happen. Frank nods respectfully to the man in front of him and walks all the way to the trash can - and as the test falls, Jason sees that the tip was still white.

"Cool. Now that we all know I'm sob…"

"Now that we all know that you're sober, we might as well start considering that you're simply hysterical or mentally incapacitated." Jason cuts him off, grasping his pen like it had hurt him somehow. Like it was a neck. "So shut the fuck up, Jackson."

And the inmate laughs.

Jason knows damn well that this sort of behaviour is the perfect excuse for anyone on the precinct to shrug and say " _yeah, he's crazy, strap his ass down in the chair_ " - and then, things get ugly. _Ugly_ ugly. Jason thinks that any moment now, someone who's not nearly as patient as him will propose it and for some reason, he hates it.

"Come on, call me _Percy_ . And hm… How long have I been here for, anyway? I think I ran my mouth a little. You know how the police is..." Jackson smirks, leaning into the bars even more and eyeing Jason with a challenge. "I bet I would have been _punished_ earlier if my skin was a little bit darker."

Jason feels himself going red. Not pink, not blushing - _red_ , because he could have sworn that Jackson had meant something else by " _punished_ ".

It could have been his imagination, though. _Could be_.

He hears a small noise to his side and upon a quick investigation, he sees that Piper is laughing at what the inmate had said.

"What?" She smirks at him, holding up a stack of paper that reads 'Perseus Jackson' on top. "You know he's right. Cops are racist. But not in this precinct, Mr. Jackson; we are decent people. I appreciate your spirit, though."

She smiles at him with amusement practically dancing on her colorful eyes.

"Tell me you're getting done with him." Jason pleads, leaning into her table to see what she had done with his file so far. "I can feel my brain cells dying."

"I know, this man has to be insane. Who the hell raised him? I can't believe you even have the soul to talk to him." She whispers back, extending the document to his direction. "I'm going to sign it and take him to make the call."

Jason eyes the report quickly, reading a much more composed version of what Piper had told them earlier: Jackson was amongst the dozens who pushed against the barricade of officers. When they started to throw gas bombs to dismiss the crowd, he picked one up from the ground and threw it right back to the police. Then, Frank Zhang and Piper "immobilized and detained" the perp, which is an euphemism for "we beat him down and then arrested his ass".

What kind of person raised him?

Jason can't even begin to imagine what his family could possibly think if he ever did something like this. He had never been arrested - Jason had, in fact, lived his life so within the lines that the idea of it was laughable. He was never late to pay his bills, never drank alcohol before the age of 21, never did any drugs, never been to an illegal protest or committed some sort of felony, always respected elders and figures of authority - and he most definitely never offended kids at McDonald's.

He and Jackson were both 28 year olds who shared the same community - and somehow, their lives couldn't be more different.

Piper eventually took him out to make a call. 

It was quick: his rescue showed up in under thirty minutes in the form of an astonishing monster. Blonde, grey eyed, strikingly beautiful and painfully scary. Her steps echoed within the cheap paper thin walls of the precinct and Jason had a feeling that a roar would tear through her throat in case she opened her mouth.

No one dared to look her in the eyes. Jason could have sworn that heads lowered as she passed - and his was one of them.

"Hi, baby!" Jackson waves happily to the woman as she stops in front of Piper, who has been handling his case so far.

"The transfer has been made. Why is he still inside the cell?" The woman questions Piper with a _look_ , and he can't help but think that her voice sounds exactly like what he would expect. "For all I know, he should have been bailed the second the payment was registered by your system. _Or am I wrong?"_

Piper was a badass: Jason knew her since they were twenty year olds in the police academy. She was the most fearless person he'd ever met and she never took shit back home - under no circumstances. Jason often saw her as either an guardian angel or an unbeatable warrior, but upon the presence of whoever that monster was, Piper just froze.

" _So?"_

"Mr. Jackson will be liberated immediately." The detective nodded nervously and then awkwardly dodged the blonde to get to his cell.

"Percy." The woman noted from her spot, crossing her arms and watching as the bars slid open for him.

"I know, I'm a dumbass. Meanwhile, you're a goddess and I love you." He muses, stepping out of the cell with a smirk. "Did you drive here? Tell me you did. Tell me you can give me a ride."

"You owe me four grand."

"I know, thank god for my rich friends." Jackson joins his hands in mock prayer, bowing to her lightly. "I'll transfer the money as soon as they give my phone back."

Piper had his belongings sealed in a plastic envelope on top of her table. She almost tripped over her own feet to get it and she most definitely avoided to look into the stormy grey eyes which stared at her heavily.

"You're free to go, Mr Jackson."

"Aw, come on. We're all friends here. Call me Percy."

Neither of them can tell if that was supposed to be a joke or not - and damn it, Jason wishes that he could go into the trashcan to double check that drug test that Frank threw away.

Jackson has a posture. He stands like he owns whatever ground his feet plant themselves on, with electric shades of awkward and erratic waves of weird.

Perseus Jackson. Perseus Jackson. Perseus Jackson.

Perseus Jackson is the strangest person that Jason ever came across - and through the entirety of the day, his mind keeps wandering back to him.

+

Nico Di Angelo, the goth friend, had moved into a new apartment about a month ago.

Unlike Jason, who at the time was majoring economy to fulfil his father's shoes and dreams, Nico was majoring archeology to fulfil his own. They had met in a sociology class and made peace with having to deal with each other after being forced together in a project. Jason would later on abandon college to start the police academy and Nico would then get hooked in a string of trips to do field work.

For someone with such poor social skills, you would imagine Nico Di Angelo to be as good as a rock, but in reality, the man seemed to know every place in the world and every living being walking it's grounds. The archeologist could be weirdly social and he and Jason had a longtime personal tradition which consisted of coming together to get drunk while watching bad reality TV. They actually called it "the gays night".

Nico's new apartment was close enough that Jason didn't bother driving there, in what had to be a 5 minute walk. Being an old, six floor building mostly owned by elderly folks and middle aged couples, that had to be the perfect place for the ever-so-weird Di Angelo.

Their doorman only worked day hours and it had to be a little over than that, so Jason used the code provided by his friend to unlock the front door and get to the small lobby. And it was: small, that is. Small enough that you could not possibly walk by someone and just pretend that you hadn't seen them there.

Not that he could - by a number of reasons, that is.

Jason cannot possibly name the sharp surprise that stabs him when his blue cunning eyes lay on the ocean protector, standing by the elevator with an expression that matches his own.

Perseus fucking Jackson. The stupidest and most beautiful person in New York, wearing a Led Zeppelin shirt and - very short - shorts in a visually offensive shade of neon pink.

" _You_." Jackson drags out the word as if Jason is the despicable one.

Come on. Neon pink shorts? _Really?_

" _Jackson_." Jason hadn't meant to, but he realizes that his tone matched his rival's.

"What the hell are you doing on my building?" The other man crosses his arms, his pretty face taken by a deep, angry frown.

The bruise that Frank had left on his cheekbone was nowhere to be seen, but his lower lip was still split - and they were almost red, Jason notices. Back to the precinct, his lips were unnaturally purple and bloody, but without the dirt and the swelling, they were now red.

" _Your_ building? My friend lives here."

"Your friend? _Who?_ The elevator ghost?" Jackson crosses his arms and Jason wishes that he could slap the challenging expression off his face. 

A beeping cuts them off. The elevator door slides open, bringing some cold light on the poorly lit corridor - and as the small panel reads, it has reached their floor. Both man go inside silently, preparing themselves for what they know will be one of the worst elevator experiences of all time.

Perseus presses for the fourth floor - Jason presses for the fifth.

" _No_." Jackson whispers, eyes fixed on the glowing five.

The metallic door slides shut and the elevator starts moving up. It was supposed to be a quick ride, as the building is small, but it feels like an eternity as they stand together.

"What?" 

" _Nico?!"_

Jason almost jumps at the sound of his friend's name.

"Do you know Nico?" Jason's face twists in disgust, as he moves further away from Jackson like he's radioactive.

"If I know Nico? Why would _you_ know him?" Jackson looks like he's just as offended as Jason feels. "Why the fuck does Nico have to be friends with t..."

"For fucks sake, Jackson, I will arrest you again if you give me the chance. Disrespect for authority and moral damage is _still_ a crime. But I bet you know that already: your record is extensive."

The honest threat works wonders for him: Jackson stands straight and faces the door, as silent as he has ever been. When the door opens in the fourth floor, he marches out of it without looking back and Jason feels victorious - like there's electricity coursing through his body.

On the fifth floor, Nico is waiting for him with the doors open and Jason's complaints start way before he even walks inside.

"I can't believe you're friends with that dumbass."

"Who?" Nico freezes midway, hands full with a bottle of wine and two glasses. "Welcome, by the way."

"Thanks for the invite, your place is great." Though Jason's tone is sour, he means every word.

Di Angelo wasn't big on color - other than black, that is. But none of it could be found on the walls, which were both red bricks and white plaster. The furniture was functional and cozy, most of the decoration being pictures, book shelves and strange objects Jason assumed were remains from his adventures worldwide. That, combined with Nico's overall mania for organization and control, made up for a really nice place which was just like him.

Jason couldn't pull something like that. His apartment walls were still the same sad shade of grey from the previous owner, most of his belongings tucked inside drawers and closets, cold lights making every room haunted and all of his furniture pushed against the walls. Soulless and empty.

" _Perseus Jackson?"_

"Shit, do you know Percy?" A smile breaks through Nico's face and Jason tries not to cringe at that.

"That asshole? We arrested him last week!"

And Nico laughs himself hoarse. He bends over, breathless, almost smashing the wine glasses on the coffee table beside him - and Jason feels like throwing his friend off the balcony.

"No, no, no. I can't believe this shit. Did _you_ arrest him? Why did you go so rough on his face, man?"

The man is still laughing as he sits on the couch, holding up one of the glasses - Jason shakes his head, but he takes it anyways. Nico had chosen red wine for the night; the expensive kind that they usually drank in "social gatherings" with their parents.

Though their businesses had nothing in common, they got together quite frequently: the elite circle of New York was small enough. Zeus wasn't a big fan of Jason being a detective, but he still was the ever so perfect, trophy, golden boy to be put in display - Hades, on the other hand, loved that Nico was a weirdo and nurtured the spirit as much as he could. Once every two or three months they would see themselves being passed around in events or dinners and as they grew older, the annoying parts of it were shunned by the possibility of getting drunk on expensive shit.

"I didn't, it was Frank. His face was already fucked up by the time I saw him." Jason murmurs before taking a long sip. "He deserved it, though… Do you even know what happened?"

"Of course I do. He threw a bomb back at you guys and then a bunch of cops spanked him. There's a video on twitter." Nico shrugs, completely unbothered.

"I can't believe you're friends with him. How the fuck did you even meet?"

"Oh, it's a long fucking story. I was like… I don't know, twelve, thirteen. You remember the accident with my sister, right?"

Right. Bianca Di Angelo. Through one of their many drunken gays nights, Nico had shared this story with him: his older sister had died in an ugly car crash when she was 14 years old. A machine operator lost control of a crane on top of the East River and it tore through a school bus with more than thirty kids inside. The impact was so strong, half of the bus was thrown over the bridge, while the other half was crushed by the crane.

Though there were survivors, an horrifying number of kids from both halves died: drowned, crushed, dismembered, choked, with severe head traumas - later, autopsies proved that some kids had even panicked into death: ten year olds who suffered from heart attacks.

Bianca Di Angelo was sitting right in the middle of the bus when the crane crushed her into nothing, just like a mosquito. Her remains were splattered everywhere and in the end, the authorities had less than 60 pounds of body mass to return to the family - Nico says that it was so little, they went against their traditions and cremated her instead. There wasn't enough left of Bianca to put inside a coffin.

Jason remembers sitting still with his mouth open for a full hour, shocked - and he sure as hell remembers _"the accident with my sister"._

"Yeah."

"So… I got in a bad phase then. Like, _bad_ bad. My prime emo phase, MCR style. I got kicked out of like 5 schools and then my father threw me into this boarding school for delinquents to see if it would do me any good; I already told you this."

"And you met there Jackson there."

Nico nodded over a long sip of wine.

" _Percy_. And yeah. The school had this group therapy thing that was obligatory to some students. I met Percy there."

"What was he going to therapy for?"

"He was the accident with my sister, dumbass. Why else would I bring her up?" Nico shakes his head, wearing that dashing bastard smile of his.

Death is a strange concept when it comes to Nico. Jason sometimes wonders if his sister had anything to do with it or if the weirdness was encrusted on his soul already - or maybe he was just really bad at denial. Whatever it is, the pacific way Nico approaches death; his sister's included, is still a mystery to him.

Jason had a sister too. Though he and Thalia were polar opposites and never once got along, he can't imagine being so cool about death to the point of smiling over it.

"And it brought you together?"

Nico laughs again and Jason just _stares_ because he doesn't get it. _Again_.

"Nah, I hated him. I wanted him to die. Some days I wanted to kill him and I dreamed about it all the time."

"Shit."

"Yeah… I had to grow out of it. Emotional management and whatnot. Actually giving in on therapy - the decent kind, though. I realized my anger wasn't about him being alive, it was just my sister being dead." Nico confesses with a calm smile, playing with the board of his glass.

Jason admires his friend. He admires and is truly, fully amazed - and has always been. He simply cannot comprehend how Di Angelo can be so mature about the _one_ thing the rest of humanity still haven't come to terms with.

"That's hard to digest."

"I mean, the hate wasn't the worst part of it, because then… You know, he was my first boy crush."

"No!" Jason throws his head back, feeling the wine finally catching up to him. "Wait! _No!_ Is he the _swimmer_ you told me about?"

Nico's breathless laugh is the only answer he needs.

"You can't judge me on this one, Grace."

"He is _despicable_!"

"He is _amazing_ !" Nico insists, leaning forward to get the wine from the coffee table. _They needed a refill_. "But we weren't meant to be. We made out like once, shook hands and promised to never do it again. And we've been best friends ever since."

"I cannot believe you just called another man your best friend right in front of me." Jason pretends to be offended, but Nico doesn't fall for it.

"Don't you dare bring drama into this household. You know I got a big heart. Besides…"

" _Wait_."

"What?"

"Did you just… He's gay?"

+

Poseidon was the kind of man that made people uneasy, much like Hades. He and his father had some sort of friendship, but Jason always felt like he should watch out for his words around the man - less for himself and more for the sake of equilibrium in between everyone.

It had been completely harmless when Jason willingly started a conversation with the man on his father's birthday dinner. He hadn't meant to stir up some shit or to revive whatever was wedged on Poseidon's throat, but he did.

"You're a good man, Jason. Your father raised you well."

Jason smiles amicably, biting back a _"he didn't"._

Jason's mother had been a pretty actress with an empty void inside her head. She eventually got herself killed when he was two years old - leaving him with not a single memory from her and a traumatized, rebellious sister who ran away one too many times to count. Zeus then got himself another trophy wife, Hera, who was much more decent and composed, but despised the two children nonetheless. In between his sister's constant absence, a hateful stepmother and his father's overall cold demeanor, Jason often thinks that he was the one to raise himself.

"He did."

"I can see that." Poseidon nods, giving him a strange, distant look.

And his eyes were green. A painfully familiar shade of green, but Jason couldn't quite place why. He had known the man since he was a kid and had seen him enough times to know that he had green eyes - but the sight never felt as strange as it did now.

"I wish I had done the same with my son". The man sighs, playing with the glass of whisky on his hands. "The boy is a mess. I wish that he was more like you."

"I didn't know you had a son." Jason comments, curious.

It was a lie. Poseidon was, much like his father, a manwhore. Jason knew from Zeus and Hera's continuous gossip, as they often ranted about Poseidon's extensive line of bastards - baby mothers preying on his money and kids that ranged from military commanders to delinquents.

"A few." The man tilts his head to the side, eyebrows raised. "They're not all helpless, but one is worse than the others. Completely lost."

Oh, that was interesting gossip.

He tried to not look around for Nico - he'd have to share this story with his friend at some point.

"How so?"

"I don't know, he has always been problematic. Despite everything, he managed to go to college, got his masters degree, a doctorate… And he _does_ have a job." With this impressive introduction, Jason starts to assume that Poseidon is just blindly unimpressed with his clearly overarching son. It dies quick. "And I think that the last I heard of it, he was working in an extensive project for his area - something to do with plastic, I think. For the ocean."

Poseidon didn't really have to go on with that. Jason checks on the man's green eyes just once more to seal the connection - and it takes an unholy amount of self control from him to not curse Jackson out loud in front of his father.

He should have known. It has been 2 weeks - and the bastard keeps coming back to him. It's like there's a magnet on his ass, bringing him forward relentlessly.

"What is he called, again?" Jason prompts, holding onto the last hope that maybe this is a big misunderstanding.

"Oh! _Percy_. My youngest."

Jason felt like he was choking.

+

"So, do you remember that crazy guy that came in the other day, saying we should guillotine Jeff Bezos?" Jason prompts, eyeing the rest of the line in front of them.

They weren't on a break, but it wasn't necessarily hard to get one during field work. So as soon as things got boring, he and Piper stopped by a coffee shop to get something to snack on - and while the line wasn't enormous, they had to wait a while. There was a group of teenagers making a huge order right in front of them.

"Oh, yeah. Sexy protester?" Piper turned back to him with furrowed brows. "Jackson, I think."

"Yeah! That's the guy. So… I just learned that his father is friends with my father."

"What? No."

"Yeah! And I've known the guy since I was born. But listen: it gets worse." Jason shakes his head, thinking back to the elevator. "You remember my friend Nico, right? Goth archeologist? I went to visit him the other the other night. Guess who I found there?"

_"No."_

"Yes! The motherfucker lives in the same building! And then I found out that he and Nico have been best friends since they were kids." Jason exhales, the memories from Jackson making something weird snap on his system. "I swear he's coming back to me like a ghost. You know, I thought about it and I actually think that this is karma. I saw him in the protest when I was driving to get my head checked in the ER and I remember thinking that I wanted him to suffer and now he's coming after _me_ instead."

The teenagers in front of them left, Piper's laughter mixing with their own.

While his partner made their order, Jason looked back to the rest of the shop - or the image that started to approach it's glass doors: the blonde monster. She waltzed inside the coffee shop wearing a nice grey coat and with a big sheet container strapped to her back. The woman was as beautiful as he remembered - and her aura so threatening, Jason felt like they were all at risk of something.

Her grey eyes fell upon him the second the door was opened and despite his main instincts, Jason forced himself to look back.

If Piper was still unaware of her presence, the woman's stern "good morning" changed it. Piper jumped like someone had pinched her with a taser, and the look on her eyes was one of absolute terror, once they landed on the blonde.

"Good morning." He offered, upon realizing that Piper was completely choked on her spot. "Miss..?"

"My name is Annabeth." She says, unimpressed.

"Ok. Cool... I'm Jason. Grace." He almost stutters, trying not to cringe at himself. He waited for Piper to say something, but the poor woman was still awkwardly frozen in place. "And my partner, Piper Mclean."

 _Gay panic_ \- Jason realized. Piper was panicking over the scary blonde; Annabeth. 

Piper was beautiful. The striking, head-turning kind of beautiful that made people think "god really has his favorites". Sure; she wasn't the brightest or the most rational of people, but her chaotic stupidity made up for one of the best detectives he ever met. Besides, she was _great_.

If anyone had a chance with scary Annabeth, it'd have to be Piper.

"I think your order is ready." Annabeth tilted her chin up to the counter behind them.

_"Shit!"_

The barista met them with an annoyed look. She held up the bags with their croissants, their coffee cups already sealed on top of the counter. 

"Sorry." He smiled to the girl, taking his order and leaning into Piper. "Get her number or I will."

"You're an asshole." She shook her head with a smile, pushing him away playfully. "Wait outside! And, uh... _Hi."_

When Jason walked out of the coffee shop, he could see his partner smiling to Annabeth, trying to work her charm on the woman. He waited by his car, entertaining himself by watching Piper squirming through the glass doors - and he cheered when the two of them took out their phones, probably trading numbers.

It was only when Piper came out, smiling like an idiot, that he realized his mistake.

+

_"I swear to god."_

"I _live_ here!" Jackson shouted, arms extended to the lobby. "Just don't come!"

There was a new reality show on Netflix that twitter had been going on about. Judging by the trailer (and way too many tweets), Nico and Jason deemed it to be low and ridiculous: just the way they liked it. Naturally, the men arranged another gay night within a month - which was also an excuse for Jason to get his head off of work for a couple of minutes.

"Are you this difficult to everyone else?" Jason crosses his arms, stopping by the elevator as well.

For him, being close to Percy Jackson felt as if there were shock waves flowing to his direction. It was poisonous and addictive, and it made his blood run way too hot inside his veins. And he was sane enough to comprehend sexual attraction - but his own, on this case, made him want to fly into the sun.

"You started this shit." The other man placed his hands on his hips, squinting.

"I didn't start shit! I had to sit back on my car after a concussion because you were holding that stupid ass sign in the middle of the way! I just wanted to go to the ER!"

"Is this about the _protest?!"_ Jackson shouted back, almost shaking in frustration. "Then you deserved it! We are in the middle of a fucking crisis! The only way to make people pay attention is if we get in their fucking way!"

_"Are you fucking ki..."_

"This is urgent! And the reason we can't do anything about it is because people like you don't take it seriously!"

Jason felt like smashing his head against the wall. Never someone as unnerving as Jackson had crossed his path; no one had ever made him feel so mad. In fact, he couldn't even remember his last screaming match - if he ever had one, that is.

"I have an actual life! Real world problems! _A job!"_

"Congratulations! I have a job too! And I'm fucking _doing_ it!"

Jason didn't really think about it - to be fair, if he had, things would have probably turned out differently. So in consequence of that, he turns off the part of his brain which is sane and functioning and pushes the other man into the wall right beside the elevator door. Jackson tried to push him back, to which Jason reacted quickly by pinning both of his hands to the wall, by either side of his head.

The detective was faster, stronger, slightly bigger and definitely a lot more trained.

Percy realized that it wasn't an attack the second he searched for Jason's eyes: dark and hooded and hungry. Then, all he had left to was consider the proximity of their bodies, the detective's heavy panting - and his own. 

Percy expected to be kissed hard and violently (and a good portion of him wanted that). He anticipated another bruise to his already sensitive lips, but Jason didn't give him any of it. In contrast to the hard grip on his wrists, Jason kissed him slowly. Not gentle and definitely not sweet, but slowly. Teasing. 

Like the bastard he was.

Percy was probably a teenager the last time a kiss made him feel like his body was on fire. Jason was much of the same, but at least he had some control of the situation. Not that it was too much trouble: the other man had eased under his hands.

Jason didn't hold back a smirk when they broke off.

"You son of a bitch." Percy mutters under his breath, not daring to break eye contact. "Did you come here to see Nico?"

"Yeah."

"Do you want to delay the visit?"

Jason's answer wasn't very verbal, but it was clear and effective. He pushed the button for the fourth flour and then Percy tackled him into the wall of the elevator as soon as it started moving. And there was a camera inside, it's red light signaling that it was working, but Percy never gave it much mind. Jason wasn't one for this type of display and exposure: the idea of being watched was usually unnerving, but he went along with Percy's rhythm.

He tried not to look around the apartment once they got inside - it felt like prying too much. But he kept his eyes on Percy, which was more than enough: Jackson looked good, but he looked so much better under the lens of sex.

His copper skin was hot under Jason's hands and they met bumps while running through his body. Scars. Jason could identify most of them: cigarette burns, small cuts which were probably the results of small accidents and fights (possibly domestic, but not necessarily), a few that looked like poorly done stitches and a couple of big ones that were big and could only have been the outcome of something violent and erratic. Most of them were really old, but not all.

Jason had done a specialization in forensic examination years ago.

He had his own number of scars, too, collected along the years recklessly. So Jason tried not to think too hard about it, or to examine. The last thing he wanted was to make Percy uncomfortable - sex hardly ever worked in awkward moods.

Whatever Jason had in mind for it was erased the second Percy straddled him on the bed. The biologist had been completely compliant to his commands so far, but he put up a fight to stay on top. Jason didn't complain: seeing Jackson move up and down on top of him was rousing and _fuck_ , his rhythm was perfect.

His eyes were full of wonder as he watched Percy's expression of exhaustion and content. His parted mouth, the hooded eyes, the heavy panting, the fucking smile - Jason wanted to kiss him again (and he did). He didn't want to stop, much less leave.

You'd think that for being so rigid and clinical, Jason would consequently be somewhat distant or cold. Percy was pleased to learn that the detective could be passionate at will (and that he knew how to use his mouth). There was nothing cold about his presence or definitely not about his body.

"You never called Nico to say you weren't coming." Percy said, running his fingers through Jason's short hair.

They were laying down in a weird position. Jason was almost perpendicular to Percy's body, but his head rested on top of his chest anyway. It was strangely comfortable and the continuous touch was soothing.

"Is that an invitation for me to stay?" Jason mused, reaching up to slide a finger down the other man's stomach.

When he calls to explain the delay, Nico says that he could hear the two of them through the floor; he wasn't surprised at all. With an awkward goodbye, Jason makes a mental note to be quieter the next time. Then, Percy hides his phone on the far corner of the bed and judging by the look on his eyes, Jason takes it that they're not done yet.

He forgets the note completely.

+

"I went on a date with her." Piper confessed, leaning into Jason's table. "I took her to that dirty bar we go on the weekends, because I thought to myself that I wanted her to see me at my worst first."

"Shit, why'd you do that? I mean… Did it work?" 

"The best sex I've ever had, hands down." She gives him a snarky smirk with her tongue under her teeth. "We're going out again tomorrow."

Well, then. Jason gives a quick look around the room, just to make sure no one is paying attention. It's just a matter of seconds before the subject comes up in between them (and he wants to be the one to break it).

"I think that this is a good opportunity to tell you that I'm seeing her friend."

"What friend?"

Not surprisingly, Percy never even crossed her mind. The seconds of contemplative silence he gave her were enough to ring a bell, though.

_"No."_

+

"I know your father." Jason says tentatively, caressing Percy's legs. "He and my father are friends."

They sat close on the couch, curling up on each other, legs almost intertwined.

Percy just had been cleared in court for his arrest on the protest - the judge had been kind enough to even analyze a few more of his light injury cases to clear them out as well. Percy could be stupid and unnerving, but he was smart and definitely had a good point. He knew how to argue and bullshit his way through things and watching him from the court's audience, Jason wondered if that was how he always got away with things.

He managed to use the small audience to fucking monologue about the environment - and everyone cheered him on for it. Even the judge seemed pleased.

"I know. Nico told me about it." Percy gives him a small smile. "He said your father puts you on a showcase for his friends. I bet mine is pretty jealous of yours."

 _He is,_ but Jason doesn't say that. Poseidon is still wrong, like he had been before.

"My father tells everyone he's proud of me because it's more convenient than admitting he's not. He does this a lot, actually. Even with Thalia." Jason murmurs, leaning in to leave a kiss on Percy's temple. "Sometimes I wonder what will happen when he finds out I'm gay. If he's finally going to snap or if he'll pretend it's fine."

"I didn't know you were closeted."

Which didn't make a lot of sense. Under Percy's eyes, his newfound boyfriend was the perfect definition of _disaster gay_. It was so clear, it was a wonder his family didn't know already - save, of course, for Thalia. Percy met her through Annabeth when they were teenagers in the Half-Blood Boarding School - a strange friendship that survived through the years. Despite their differences, Thalia and Percy shared the same wicked and chaotic energy everyone else lacked.

Through Thalia, he had learned a great deal of things about their fucked up family. One of them being " _I'm pretty sure my little brother is gay as fuck_ ".

"Just to my father and his wife." Jason shrugs, passing his arm around the other man. "How about you?"

"Gayest kid you ever seen. " Percy laughs, leaning into his embrace. "My mother was cool with, I guess. She's really supportive. My stepfather hated me, though. Spanked me for sport."

 _He knew it_. 

Old cigarette burns, small cuts and erratic scars - the starter pack of abusive homes and domestic violence.

"Did she leave him?"

"We killed him."

Despite Jason's lack of reaction, his brain was on the verge of collapse. Murder wasn't the kind of shit people talked about with cops. Not willingly, at least.

_"What?"_

"I'm not confessing murder, back down. It was self-defense." Percy shook his head, leading some peace into Jason's nervous system. "One of his episodes got messy; there wasn't a lot to charge us for. I was 12 then, and if our testimony wasn't enough, the scars I had did the trick to convince them."

"What happened after?"

"My mom didn't get punished, but they took me away for child neglect. And I didn't really come back home after that." Percy shrugged, acting as if the topic wasn't a big deal anymore. "I went to this boarding school for years, then straight into college, then right into work and my own apartment."

"And how is your mother now?" Jason asks carefully, wondering if it's a tough topic.

"Fine. She got married to a decent guy when I was 16, had another baby… I have a baby sister, by the way." Percy raised his head with his eyes wide, filled with excitement. "Baby Estelle. She's 10 already, but I'll always call her a baby."

He deflects quickly. And as Jason had learned, Percy has ADHD and the attention span of a fly, which only makes it harder to get a grip of him.

"How do you feel about that?" Jason pushes, not satisfied with the topic change. "With your stepfather… _Or your father_."

"There isn't a lot to feel. It fucked me up then, but I guess the whole situation led me to where I am right now. My job, my friends, my family, baby Estelle… I don't like to think about it." Percy shrugs, biting the inside of his cheeks. "I met my father because the child services got to him. He got me into school and then disappeared again. He also calls once every three months to complain about something."

Percy hadn't meant to touch this topic with a guy he's been seeing for only three months. In all honesty, he can't even remember why the topic had appeared in their conversation and he hated every part of it.

"Is this the classified case on your file?"

"Ah, yeah. They blacked that shit out because I was a minor." Percy shrugs again, sinking harder into the couch. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring this up."

"No, don't worry about it." Jason shakes his head, tightening the grip around him. "We're all fucked up, I'm not judging you."

"Do you have a dramatic backstory to balance this out?"

Jason knows that humor is Percy's way to get through things, so he let's go of it. It's been enough information.

"Not really… I mean, not that I can remember. My mother was drunk all the time. She was paranoid and hysteric, apparently. I don't remember her at all, but that's what everyone says. She'd pull a lot of stunts to get attention and shit." Jason murmurs, caressing Percy's arm and legs lovingly. The touch was almost therapeutic for the two of them. "She left me in the woods when I was two years old. Thalia saw it, but she was only six and my mother dragged her back home."

"In the woods?!"

"Yes, nobody knows what her point was. My father found me right away, so it wasn't really a problem. Meanwhile, my mother went out again and got herself into a car crash."

"Ah, I know this. Thalia told me about it when we were kids." The biologist whispers, watching his face carefully.

Though Jason could be quite observant, Percy was much more understanding of emotions. Even if his boyfriend's overall reactions ranged from anger to annoyance, he could also identify hues of sadness, anxiety and so much more in between the lines. He could feel the way Jason's hard body tensed slightly around him, his low and steady tone being more about self-control then out of boredom.

Only then Jason notices the way Percy's long fingers had been moving against his chest; soothing and healing. That's what his touch always felt like. That's why Jason always wanted to have him on his arms.

"I don't like thinking about it either." Jason admits, still looking at the way Percy's golden hand contrasted with his pale chest. "It's complicated with my family. You're getting yourself into some trouble, Jackson."

A smirk broke through Percy's face. This was sure as hell complicated - in fact, situations of the like were his specialty.

Sally already knew that he was tangling himself with someone, meanwhile, Jason's family didn't even know that he was into men. And he knew enough about his absent father's rhythm to take a guess of what they were like. That's considering the outsider factor, because on a more personal note, Jason was as closed off as they come.

Being with him was a daily challenge of deconstructing walls brick by brick.

"And what are you going to tell your _daddy_?" He teased, squeezing Jason's thigh.

" _Hm…_ " The detective pretended to ponder, looking straight into Percy's green eyes with a serious expression. "It will be something like _'Daddy, I need you to know that shooting is my second best ability, right after sucking dick'_ and see where that takes me."

Percy hits Jason's chin when he throws his head back in laughter - and Jason loves it so much he almost considers actually saying that.

+

"Guess who's been told to leave and never come back?"

Jason is leaning on the doorstep when Percy opens his door, the cold statement shaking him up a little.

"That bad?"

"I'm pretty sure he also called me a number of slurs in between 'hello' and 'goodbye'." He tilts his head in consideration, ignoring the chills that run through his arms. If his hands weren't closed in fists, they'd surely be shaking. "Thalia came out too, to back me up. He freaked out, talked too much. Then I punched him.

The most rebellious thing that Jason had ever done in his entire life - possibly the only one, too.

Zeus was so shocked he didn't even react, though he definitely could. Jason mechanically drove Thalia back to her house after that, deadly silent. Her girlfriend Zoe was home, but she left the two siblings alone as they held each other on the kitchen floor and cried together.

For about thirty minutes, the two of them felt as if they were 2 and 6 again.

Losing another parent.

"How do you feel?"

Jason felt too much. His heart had never been this erratic before: he could feel it drumming through his body, reverberating madly. He was on the verge of going back to shaking, every breath cutting through his lungs like sharp shards of ice. And he felt _electric_.

He felt fucking amazing.

Jason felt like this was the first time he ever laughed in his entire life - and the fact that Percy kissed him quiet adds up to the feeling.

He felt alive.

**Author's Note:**

> Sooooo that's it! I hope you like it! Let me know if you have any thoughts!


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